In North Korea the alphabet is known as 조선글 (josoen guel).

The modern name for the alphabet, Hangeul, was coined by a Korean linguist called Ju Si-gyeong (1876-1914). The alphabet was originally called Hunmin jeongeum, or 'The correct sounds for the instruction of the people', but has also been known as Eonmeun (vulgar script) and Gukmeun (national writing).

The Korean alphabet was invented in 1444 and promulgated it in 1446 during the reign of King Sejong (r.1418-1450), the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty. The Koreans borrowed a huge number of Chinese words, gave Korean readings and/or meanings to some of the Chinese characters and also invented about 150 new characters, most of which are rare or used mainly for personal or place names. The Gukyeol system used hanja characters to represent the sounds of Korean. The Hyangchal system used hanja to represent all the sounds of Korean and was used mainly to write poetry. The Idu system used a combination of hanja together with special symbols to indicate Korean verb endings and other grammatical markers, and was used to in official and private documents for many centuries. These systems were similar to those developed in Japan and were probably used as models by the Korean. The Gukyeol system first appears in the 11th century, however there is evidence to suggest that it was used from the 7th century AD, or possibly earlier. In the 10th and 11th centuries AD they devised three different systems for writing Korean with Chinese characters: Hyangchal (鄕札 / 향찰), Gukyeol (口訣 / 구결) and Idu (吏讀 / 이두). By the 5th century AD, the Koreans were starting to write in Classical Chinese - the earliest known example of this dates from 414 AD. It was used widely during the Chinese occupation of northern Korea from 108 BC to 313 AD. Recognised minority language in Primorsky Krai in RussianĬhinese writing has been known in Korea for over 2,000 years.

Status: official language in South Korea, North Korea and Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in northeast China.

Writing systems: Idu and Hyangchal (from 10th century), Gugyeol (from 11th century) Hangeul / Hanja (from 15th century).

Spoken in: South Korea, North Korea, China, USA, Japan, Uzbekistan, and other countries.

Native name: 한국어 (hanguk-eo) - South Korea.

Abakada alphabet letters